YALSA, ON NAMING THE REAPPEARANCE OF SAM WEBBER A 2000 ALEX AWARD WINNER (SIX NOVELS IN ALL) "There's a strong sense of place in this ultimately warm, reassuring novel set in a poor, racially tense Baltimore neighborhood. Sam Webber doesn't like his new home, a smelly apartment light years away form the middle-class area where he spent his first 11 years. Since his father's disappearance, he's felt responsible for protecting his mother, but he's so sad and scared he can't even help himself: druggies and muggers patrol the streets; bullies hound him in school. His only friend is the school's black janitor, who turns out to need Sam as much as Sam needs him. Themes of racism, urban violence, depression, and family structure threaded through the story make the book effective for discussion as well as for independent reading." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL "In a style somewhat reminiscent of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird or Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree, a slightly older Sam relates the events of a watershed year in his life . . . Sam is a realistic, vivid character . . . he is often frightened, confused, and lonely. He learns, however, that family doesn't have to be composed of blood relatives, that love comes in various colors and sizes, and what seems to be the worst of circumstances can actually turn out to be a blessing. With so many young adults facing family breakups personally or through their friends, this delightful and captivating story will be a welcome glimmer of hope." LIBRARY JOURNAL "This debut novel...addresses prejudice and overcoming urban fears . . . The characters present a realistic picture of the trials in a single-parent family . . . Highly recommended not only for adults and educators but for teenagers living in urban areas." BOOKLIST "Sharing football in the park and lunches in the school cafeteria, their [Sam and Greely's] relationship fills a void in Sam's life. As their friendship develops, it also becomes obvious that Greely needs Sam as much as Sam needs Greely . . . A slow-paced story, filled with expertly detailed descriptions of Baltimore and well-drawn characters. . . . YA: Sam finds out there's more than one kind of family in this poignant novel that will attract teen fiction fans." KIRKUS REVIEWS "A year in the life of a Baltimore boy provides the basis for a formidable portrait of urban American life . . . A warming exploration." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "A white 11-year-old becomes fast friends with a black janitor and learns about racism, loss, grief, forgiveness and the landscape of Baltimore in this heartfelt debut. Fuqua has a sensitive understanding of the shaky emotional terrain of preadolescence, and he displays a good ear for dialogue and an intimate feel for Baltimore's rowhouses, creaky buses, and broad sidewalks." VOYA (VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES) "The gentle and sensitively told story of Sam, age twelve, who longs for a father who suddenly and inexplicably left the family. Sam staggers under the burdens of uncertainty and fear as he and his mother are forced to live in reduced circumstances in a lower socio-economic neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. He suffers under the all-too-common fears and anxieties of new school and new bullies. This paean to Baltimore is also a beautifully told bildungsroman; Fuqua pours his love for the old city into a carefully crafted and multilayered story. No library should be without it."